A Brush with Identity

This 2 week session of TandLinVW has the focus of avatar identity. For me this is a key issue in SL. My avatar, Esme has transformed over the year that she has existed. She is young and casually elegant. Her personality is strong, direct, funny, kind, and at ease in unfamiliar situations. And she has made me just a little bit like her. Because of her adventurous nature, she meets many people. I meet many people, and delight at variety of personalities and interests that I find in SL.

Today I had the pleasure to meet a young, generous, quirky, extremely bright, furry. I can't say that I know _much_ about furrys. I know that furrys dress as cartoonish animals and many enjoy cartoonish animal art. (Esme once donned a furry avatar and received a tour of some furry haunts and was only slightly startled to observe furry sex animations.) I did not for instance know that some furrys opt for dominant submissive relationships. I was told today that unlike goreans, furrys are never slaves. My new friend is his master's pet. While he did not want to confuse his furry identity with the work relationship we were establishing, and therefore did not speak at length, he is apparently a furry lifestyler.

Until a year ago, I knew nothing of some of the subcultures that can be found in SL. Some might be fearful or repelled by the prospect of meeting people with such unfamiliar lifestyles and mores. To me it is the wonder of SL. I am safe here. I don't need the protection of my family, neighborhood, social class or ethnic group. I can travel freely among people from different nations, with varied abilities and disabilities, with opposing and similar political views, with lifestyles that I find intriguing, curious or even repellent. None of the obstacles that usually protect me from variety exist. And what I most often find is people who are engaging and helpful and open and curious just like me.

What does it mean to explore an identity in SL? Am I role playing the more confident persona of Esme? Can I learn from this practice to be more like Esme? Am I a voyeur or a participant in an exciting social experiment? As an educator should I steer clear of those who thumb their whiskered noses at the dominant culture? Can I use SL to help my students explore hidden potential within themselves? What is the potential for teens to "find themselves" in the safety of a world that offers Control-Q - the ultimate answer to unsafe situations?

Voice - How Do I Hate Thee

I like to talk as much as the next person. But iSL I prefer to text. Prefer is not strong enough... I dread and loath voice. Dread and loath too strong? Maybe. Here are some of the reasons that I prefer text to voice:

• I don't get the "social cues" that people give with just voice. I feel like my voice is just going off into the void. With text, we use a whole different set of social cues to convey attention, interest, appreciation, doubt. With text you have to be direct to convey those states. I like being direct.
  
• I like the anonymity of sl. I enjoy imagining who a person is based wholly on the content of their words, not on their looks, age, weight, ethnicity, accent, voice. While almost everyone has a nice avatar, not everyone has a nice voice. Hearing a person's voice is usually disappointing.
• Text is a communication equalizer. Sure, some people are at the disadvantage of not being efficient typists. But there is no urgency with text. When you get it out, it will be "heard." Text users expect comments to occur out of order. Voice demands speed and aggression. Only those who are aggressive get to speak, and those who are slow to process their ideas give up when the conversation has switched directions.
• I am more thoughtful about what I write than what I say. I can edit as I go. Because I am not alone in this, text conversations seem to have more meat (or tofu if you prefer).
• In SL there are just so many technical complications. We don't all have equal equipment, connections and don't all understand the intricacies of the audio settings. Getting people to toggle mics on and off, control the volume of individual speakers and making it work well is a hassle of questionable worth.
  

So are these "reasons" rational or psychiatric? I also avoid talking on the phone.

Day Two

Well so much for my deeply thought out plans. Today did not go as well as I had hoped. Technical difficulties, less than perfect plans, unreasonable expectations, slow start and I became flustered. Oh and did I mention that I hate voice.

I decided to introduce voice in this class primarily because I believe that most people like it. Maybe if I can botch it up enough I can change minds (mwuhahaha). I intended to introduce it today and use it initially as a means to convey short bits of information. The idea being that auditory messages from me might rise above the visual over stimulation. I want text to continue be the primary way we exchange ideas with each other in class. 40 Minutes into the first hour and we finally have everyone able to hear me and all other mics turned off. (Several people still don't have earbuds or headsets.)

We started a self paced exploration on changing one's avatar's appearance. Students will be able to return to the island and complete the three stations for 1. saving an avatar and outfit; 2. changing the many perameters of physique and facial features; and 3. creating a new article of clothing. For new members of SL, appearance doesn't seem that important. As time goes on people begin to see that it matters how they present themselves. The choices they make will be highly individual and will likely change overtime. During the next several weeks I hope to promote discussion about avatar identity and presentation. We will read articles about identity, anonymity and some research that is being done about how one's SL identity can affect one's RL identity (weight loss, healthy behavior, confidence...).

Today we made our first foray into the practices of teaching in SL, besides my demonstrations of what works and doesn't (lol) to teach people basic sl tools. We visited with Clowey Greenwood at Biome Island. In addition to exploring some impressive, outsized builds of a drop of pond water on a microscope, and a soda bottle closed eco system, we met with Clowey and asked about her experiences teaching in SL.

We also got to try out the Likert voting floor described in the first post. Now that the basics have been covered the focus will turn to teaching techniques, tools and content.

As I reflect on today several things surface as important. 1. While I will experiment again with voice, it will be okay if I decide that it is not for me. Students will have opportunities to use it themselves and go to other edu events using it. 2. Each class should start off with a tour or virtually physical activity 3. Clowey's use of the class materials box could be useful. Then those who need to know what the schedule is can refer to the one they received. LMs to be used for the day will be there... 4. I have a great group of students that can help each other. I can relax and not try to convey _every_ possible thing each student might need to know.

Day One

The much anticipated - by me :-) -first, in-world meeting of my class occurred today.

Until a week ago I had no idea if there would be enough students to hold the class. My department head told me she knew of at least one student who had definitely registered. With that information I went to the registrar, "Oh no, you have plenty," she assured. She got back to me with a number about a week ago. Twelve students were signed up., my ideal class size for a real world grad course. Let's see how it turns out in-world.

Well we were 19! Fifteen enrolled students, a guest, my assistant and a colleague who was there to document the event via machinima.

I anticipated a much more chaotic start. But everyone arrived at the island, on their own, within the first 5 minutes of the start of class. Sure it was chaotic - 19 people not sure what do with themselves, at least 10 not sure how to move or talk. Very exciting.

I greeted people and announced that the schedule and intent of the day were posted on large signs. The first activity was a scavenger hunt - an introductory lesson to moving, talking and other basic skills. It is hard to know where to look when you are new and many missed my text based greetings and directions. So these were repeated several times. The three hour period was divided into three periods with breaks between. The second involved meeting for intros and group activities in the island's sandbox. The final session was set aside for touring of other Second Life sims.

Scene and task: Marlboro College Graduate Center is a largely undeveloped but beautifully formed island with a central mountain range and river dividing the island roughly in half. Nine glowing flags were placed around the island at increasingly distant and more difficult to navigate locations. At the base of each flag is a notecard giving box. When the box is touch a notecard opens with step by step instructions on how to use a basic feature of sl and gives a task to complete.

Of course there is a glitch. Seven of the nine boxes do not give out their notecards. But the fix is remarkably quick and before most people noticed the box scripts are repaired.

This leaves only the awkwardness and discomfort of people in a foreign land - many not really knowing what is expected of them and fearing that they will do something wrong, get lost, or something unfathomably worse. I am not sure everyone liked it, but they all did fine. As a teacher, I struggle with the balance between throwing students in the deep end and giving them flotation devices that might ultimately cripple their independence. While I hope I don't come off as merciless, I am more likely to throw than buoy.

We gather in the sandbox just before dawn. Only a few people need to be rescued. All are unscathed. Time to practice sitting, standing, texting in a round robin introduction. One of the things about SL that takes some getting used to is that communication is vastly different. I personally think that it is easier to communicate iSL than iRL. But that is never apparent at first (and to some is probably never true). Text communication can be significantly slower than voice - though in large groups it doesn't need to be. There is the to-be-expected long pause between each "speaker" as, people who don't yet know they can prepare their speech in advance, type what they want to say. Then there is the business of standing up and knowing whose turn it is to speak, and all the tabs on the communication window, and the distraction of the sun rise and the sparkle of someone's bling. All so much to take in when you are only 3 days old in SL.

Next activity involves the so important skill of circling up. In SL whenever a new person enters an existing pair or group, the social convention is to reform the circle to include the new member. And groups gather often in sl. We stumble and bump and good humor is exchanged. Beyond circling up, friending is the goal. A teachable opportunity to use the camera controls to face the rising sun is added.

I distribute LMs and we are off to International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) Island headquarters. ISTE is one of the best places I know of to meet educators. There is often a docent on duty, making it a great place to stop by and chat with an experienced SLer and educator. Docents sometimes have a following, so it is not uncommon to arrive and join a stimulating conversation about technology and education (or perhaps sl shopping). ISTE is only the third place in SL to which some students have been, with Orientation Island and Marlboro Grad Center being the first two. Upon arrival there is some confusion as students attempt to talk with the docent on duty. They are in group chat and the docent cannot "hear" them. We fly to the campfires on the beach and enjoy the ocean dolphins and the seating arrangements around and _in_ the campfire, while I tell of events that occur on the island. Our guest happens to be from Cork Ireland iRL. A quick change in my plans and a dip into my extensive tour inventory and we are off to Cork Ireland iSL. A quick look about at the heathered landscape and shop lined cityscape and the class is over.

I am exhausted but pleased. In one session I saw terror turn to achievement, boredom turn to curiosity. Not _everyone_ had a great time, but I think we are off to a great start. It seems like a nice group who will work together. Experienced people supported the inexperienced. Lots of good questions were asked. Everyone tried everything. What more can I ask for.

A rest is in order. Then I must think deeply about how best to build on today's experiences. - Esme